Spiffy:

Iffy:

Spectators and NPCs on court all look flat; no female players in demo to see in detail.

2K Sports managed to get to the court first with Top Spin 2 on Xbox 360. While it was a rather visually impressive title with decent controls, there were some flawed elements that kept it from living up to the legacy of the first Top Spin, a title that effectively trounced Sega's stellar Virtua Tennis series. The timing, therefore, seems perfect for Sega to snatch back its crown as the reigning king of tennis games. Having said that, Virtua Tennis 3 looks poised to be the comeback title for the heralded franchise. We just played a 20% complete build out on the E3 floor, and that 1/5 of a game is enough to give us pause.

So far, the lighting effects and character models are what have been exceptionally jaw-dropping at this point. The amount of detail up close in places like Barcelona or the US Open is quite staggering. The lighting shows off the shadows and moves according to the time of day. It's with the players, though, that things really take off. Details such as the fabric in Andy Roddick's ball cap can be seen on an HD display. It appeared to be running at 1080i in the booth, but considering that we had no tour guide to give the details, we're taking an educated guess.

During cutscenes, as with most tennis games, the action focuses back on the player, and the replication looks lifelike. Stubble and razor bumps on bald players can be seen, as can sweat. Some strained players also have protruding veins in their necks and reddened faces from being out in the sun on the court. Emotional responses on court have been captured in strong detail as well. There's no full roster, but top players such as Andy Roddick and Lleyton Hewitt were playable in the demo.

If there's anything that seems to need a little work toward pushing the experience into terrifying realism, it's the crowds and backgrounds. Things look a little bit flat off the court. Spectators in the stands look plain and two-dimensional, and other off-court people lack some detail; considering what other next-gen sports titles have been able to do with fleshing out the fans, it's hopeful. Also, the demo was fairly sparse at best, so no female players were available to try out or compare to the detail in the male characters.

Of course, outside of the visuals, the gaming experience felt like vintage VT: easy to pick up and play. Since a lot of functions don't seem to have been mapped out yet, the button layout was confined to slices, top spins, and lobs. It was enough for anyone on the showroom floor to pick up and get a feel for the controls, which, although incomplete, still capture the intuitive nature of the Virtua Tennis series nicely.

So far, even at 20% completion, Virtua Tennis 3 looks like a highly legitimate threat to Top Spin 2. Once the promised career modes and mini-games get implemented, there should be nowhere to go but up for this title. Granted, even though the players are practically photorealistic, there are small details that need a little bit of cleaning up, such as the flat spectator models and other NPCs on the court. Also, we haven't seen how any female players look yet, since we haven't really heard any official declarations to the roster as of the time we played the demo. However, the build is only 20% complete, so we should expect to see more in the coming months.